Victor Insurance’s Jeff Benson on why brokers are rethinking risk management as wildfires outpace conventional underwriting tools
This article was produced in partnership with Victor Insurance
For decades, property insurers have relied on established indicators to assess risk. A strong ISO Protection Class, a low wildfire hazard score, and proximity to fire services traditionally signaled a property was well-protected—insurable, and predictable.
But recent catastrophic wildfire events are forcing a critical reassessment. In Los Angeles County, communities that boasted excellent PPC ratings and low wildfire scores were among those devastated. “We were looking at Protection Class 2 areas—about as good as it gets—and we saw total losses,” says Jeffrey Benson, Builders Risk Program Leader at Victor. “It’s shaken a lot of long-standing assumptions in property underwriting.”